Anand vs Kramnik, Game 2

When the game ended, Anand had an extra pawn and a bishop pair. Kramnik had a very good knight. Kramnik had more mobility, Anand was a little cramped. The only way for Anand to keep his extra pawn was to cramp his pieces further – pawn push to c5 would have saved the pawn, but would have blocked his bishop at b4.

However, I thought that Anand can solve his problems – I felt he should have gone for it. However, he apparently had only 3 minutes to make 8 more moves and in such time trouble, it is hard to calculate all nuances of this position. Kramnik offered the draw, and perhaps taking the draw was the prudent option.

I just wish Anand trusts his powers more and is less prudent. Anand is very risk averse for a long time now. I get a feeling that he just looks for a draw as black and tries to win only with white. A Topalov or a Shirov 5 years back are much more exciting!